Fox Sports says Thom Brennaman won’t be on his NFL broadcast team this season after he used an anti-gay slang on the air Wednesday night on a Cincinnati Reds show.
“FOX Sports is extremely disappointed with Thom Brennaman’s remarks on the Cincinnati Reds television broadcast on Wednesday,” Fox said in a statement Thursday. “The language used was obnoxious, unacceptable and not representative of the values of FOX Sports.”
Brennaman had been on Fox’s NFL Announcer List since he started televising the league in 1994. He was on the No. 3 announcers team last season and was paired with analyst Chris Spielman and journalist Shannon Spake. He called Major League Baseball games for the network from 1996 to 2014.
Brennaman used the insult moments after the Fox Sports Ohio stream returned from a commercial break before the start of the seventh inning in the first game of a doubles at Kansas City. He was also suspended from Reds games, with the team apologizing for the “horrible and homophobic remark”.
The Reds removed Brennaman from the show in the fifth inning of Game 2, handing over his duties to fellow play-by-play player Jim Day.
“The Cincinnati Reds organization is devastated by the horrific and homophobic remark made tonight by broadcaster Thom Brennaman,” the team said in a statement. “He was taken off the air and was immediately suspended from the Reds’ broadcast. We will speak to our broadcast team in the coming days.
“This incident does not represent our players, coaches, organization or fans in any way. We share our sincere apologies to the LGBTQ + community in Cincinnati, Kansas City, across the country and beyond. Reds adopt policy zero tolerance for bias or discrimination of any kind, and we are very sorry to anyone who has been offended. “
Fox Sports Ohio said in a statement it agreed to the suspension, adding that Brennaman’s remark was “hateful, offensive and in no way reflected the values” of the network.
Brennaman, who had been on the Reds’ announcement squad since 2007, opened the fifth inning with an apology straight to the camera before handing over the play-by-play duties.
“I made a comment earlier this evening which I guess came out by air and which I’m deeply ashamed of,” he said. “If I hurt someone there I can’t tell you from the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry.
After pausing to announce a home run by Nick Castellanos of Cincinnati, Brennaman added, “I don’t know if I’ll put that helmet back on” and he apologized to the Reds, Fox Sports and his colleagues.
Brennaman and Reds announcers were working from Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, even though the Royals’ double-sided was in Kansas City, Missouri. Remote broadcasts have become the norm in MLB this year due to coronavirus protocols.
Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman’s son Thom, 56, called major league games for 33 years and worked for Fox Sports for 27 years, mainly covering baseball and football.
“I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am,” Brennaman said. “It’s not who I am and I never have been. I like to think that maybe I could have some people who can support this. I’m so sorry and I beg your pardon.”
In a statement Thursday, GLAAD called Brennaman’s apology “incredibly weak and insufficient,” saying it “demands full accountability” from the Reds, MLB and Fox Sports.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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